This invention relates to surgical suction systems, and more particularly, to a surgical suction system which may be driven in a variety of ways.
In the practice of surgery, there are several situations which require the creation of an evacuation mechanism within existing body spaces or spaces which potentially may be formed within the body. Evacuation is accomplished by means of insertion of a tube within the space, which tube is connected to a conduit system which in turn may be connected to any one of a variety of systems which create a mild vacuum or suction and include means for collecting the evacuated material in a reservoir.
The thoracic cavity is one body area which requires such an evacuation system following surgery of the chest. Another application for surgical suction systems exists in potential spaces under widely dissected skin flaps such as are developed following a radical mastectomy. Other situations requiring evacuation also exist. For example, various body secretions such as blood and plasma collect in spaces following surgery and occasionally, air may leak from a lung into the thoracic cavity following injury or surgery. Healing is promoted by the evacuation of blood or the air, as the case may be.
Present systems are driven by means of external vacuum pumps or remote suction sources as are typically available in most hospitals. Typically, the systems include various valving mechanisms such as a so-called "water seal" chamber or bottle. Typically, air will bubble through such a bottle or chamber, or to a trap to establish a desired vacuum level within the system. The continued bubbling is resonated by any container or chamber and is rather loud thereby being a source of bother and disturbance to a patient. Additionally, the prior art systems generally are keyed to but a single mode of operation. As a result, their lack of adaptability to varying situations frequently requires the presence of an attendant to perform specialized operations as, for example, hand milking the tube, thereby increasing the cost of use of such systems.